The hours are 9:00AM to 1:00PM on Saturdays fpr the Peninsula/Saanich Farmers' Market.

Thank you, Amygirl. Thank you for your suggestion about visiting the Sidney Market. I think we will try both. Also, thanks for the restaurant recommendations. I think I must have been posting the times for the Saanich Market without looking for your response.

Today, we visited the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. I wanted to see the Emily Carr Exhibit. Last year when we were in Vancouver, we tried to see some of her paintings, but there were few on exhibition. She was quite an amazing person, always exploring new ways to paint, she had so much energy to keep on going even without recognition and opposition for much of her early career. I, particularly liked her tree paintings. Although, there were not many paintings in today's exhibition (it was combined with work of her contemporaries), I still found much to admire and enjoy. We, also liked the Edo exhibit of Japanese Shogun. I found it interesting that the merchant class was at the bottom rung socially even though it was one of the wealthiest groups, even below the peasant. The museum is well-worth the time, just large enough to keep you interested for an hour or two without exhausting you. The Japanese garden is pretty, too.

From there we walked to Green Cuisine where we had an inexpensive lunch. Although, not high in ambience, the food, all vegan is good. I liked the roasted pepper soup, the rosemary bread the ginger cookies. I, even liked the vegan sushi, though strangely in a health food restaurant, it was not made with brown rice.

We just returned from Thrifty Foods where I queried someone on the plutot. I did not recognize it, the couple I spoke to told me it was a typical Californian fruit seen at all the Farmers' Markets. Ironic, that I come to Victoria to try a Californian fruit. I looked closer at the sign to see the word, California in smaller print at the top. BTW, we are enjoying all the local berries here, particularly the blackberries.

The Sidney Market as mentioned is well worth a visit and the town is very scenic and compact making for easy walking-not sure about bus access later in the PM though.

The Lavender store on Beacon St in particular has a hand cream that has to be tried to be believed an outstanding product for an excellent price.

Hi Annetti,
On your way to Sidney or Butchart Gardens, you should leave the highway and go through Cordova Bay. Stop at Matticks Farm, which has a number of nice shops, including a specialty BC wine store. Have the Raisin Scones or lunch at Adrienne's Tea Garden. My wife and I opened this restaurant in 1982, and ran it for 7 years before selling it. It still does a nice job, and it's a nice spot to stroll around the shops. Cheers, Al

Thank you, Sam. I, sometime forget, we have a car here in Vic, then return to our home away from home, and there it is, sitting in the driveway, looking very comfortable. It is a strange feeling sitting in our car during our home exchange, however, we have found it useful for shopping and it will work for visiting Sydney. We bought a GPS this past year, indespensible for us, and it has make doing those excursions like Sydney easier.

And thank you, too Whistler Al. We have been so involved with Vic, that I have forgotten Butchart Gardens. A blashemy to some, I am sure. We will try to keep Adrienne's in mind. We are to be here over ten weeks, so if we miss something the first time, there is a good chance, we will return again.

I am enjoying very much wandering the streets or looking out the bus windows here in Victoria. Every street is different, no two houses are the same or in the same hues. I love the colors and the old architecture from the twenties and thirties. I, also enjoy the fact that the skyline for the most part is sky scraper free, so few really tall buildings except for a couple of high rise apartment buildings.

Garmina (our GPS) failed us today, however it was still a wonderful day. The weather cooperated, just the right amount of warmth and cool breezes. We had an early start, by our standards, we were out the door by 10:30am or so. We were unable to plug in the Peninsula Farmers' Market on our GPS even using the address listed above. After several false turns and a few stops for directions, we found it. The countryside is lush, green and rolling. It was a wonderful drive even if we were lost, though the road we followed was twisty and slow going, but all the pretty farms made up for it. How nice to be close to rural areas 15 minutes or so from Victoria. Although as Amygirl above predicted, the tables were sparse at the PFM, we enjoyed the quiet strolling. Compared to our local Farmers' Market at home, it was quiet and peaceful, probably not to the liking of the farmers selling their produce. We bought some great blueberries and raspberries.

Then, as suggested by a Fodorite on another thread, we went to the Roost for lunch. Again, Garmina failed us; we were given directions at a shop, but missed the McTavish turn-off. Realizing we had driven too far, we turned down a side road to make a u turn. I was pulling out my cell phone to call for directions, when a police car drove by on the empty traffic-free road. I signaled for help and he told us to follow him and led us to the bakery. Very nice of him. We enjoyed our sandwiches, but were too full to take advantage of their bakery. The presentation was certainly enticing. It was a nice casual place; and they did a good job of making me feel I was out of the city. Someone there suggested we explore Sydney, but after hunting for parking on Sydney's side streets, we learned that there was a bike race today, so we opted to return another day. Amygirl, We saw the sign for the Thursday night Farmers' Market.

We returned home, parked our car, and took a bus to Douglas and Yates and strolled around downtown and the Inner Harbor. What a perfect day for being a tourist. I tried Roger's ice-cream, a "must" according to one of our tour books; I liked the Hazelnut chocolate very much.

We later had soup at Green's Cuisine. And then made our way home by bus. It was just a lovely, easy-going day in Victoria and I could not have had a nicer day.

annetti. In case you have missed the ads, the symphony splash is next Sunday on August 2nd. Inner harbour. The event starts at 2:00 but the symphony starts at 7:30. It ends at 10:00 with the 1812 overture and fireworks. Admission is by donation to roaming hat caryers. Bring a water bottle, but don't drink much. 40,000 people with portapotties in 80 degree heat.

Thank you, icthecat. I don't know how, but we have missed the ads. 40,000 people, I don't know. . .

Not a very busy day, but another very nice one. The weather again cooperated, absolutely perfect. We drove over to Sidney, without getting lost, parked our car (if you park 2 blocks in the residential area, there are no time restrictions, and I understand the police enforce the two hour parking limit) and strolled very slowly into town. We walked the pedestrian path along the Juan de Fuca Strait (I hope I have that right) and admired the view. The water was smooth, blue, and lovely with an occasional boat white against the blue. The scenery mesmerized me; I think you could have sold me anything at that moment. We found a park bench and sat there and admired the scene and occasionally walked the pedestrian path. Around 3:00 we noticed the Ampitheater was packed with people for an outdoor concert. People had brought lawn chairs. Sydney looks like a very nice place to live.

Annetti, the weather is warmer and dryer than usual.
Have your toured through the house that Emily Carr grew up in? It is open to the public, and a nice way to spend an hour or so - walking distance to where you are staying.
http://www.britishcolumbia.com/attractions/?id=63

No, Dar, we have not toured Emily Carr's home, yet, but it is definitely on our list of things to do. Nice to know it is walking distance, too. Thanks. I am starting to get a sense of where things are; I even directed a tourist to the Empress the other day! I should keep my mouth closed, I'll probably get lost tomorrow.

I can hardly wait to see what you do next. :-)

We like Sidney too. From there you can take a ferry to Sidney Island, if that's your kind of thing. Nothing to do there but enjoy the sandy spit and walk the wooded and seaside trails.

April, I believe it was you that said there was some kind of dinner/admission deal at Butchart's Gardens on Thursdays. I may have a faulty memory on this one. I looked on the website, but saw nothing about it. Do you remember? Thanks.

Thursdays were the astronomy nights.

For the dinner deal (not on Saturdays), here's a link:
http://www.butchartgardens.com/image...nerpackage.pdf
and more general info here:
http://www.butchartgardens.com/plann...ns/summer.html

Thank you very much, April. That is quite a deal. I spoke to someone today who said the dining room at Butchart's is very nice. Fodorites, do you agree?

I am so glad that so many people encouraged us to have a car. We have been able to get out of the city and see Vancouver Island. I must say that the Island's scenery does not disappoint. It is beautiful and lives up to comments I have read here. We drove to Chemainus, about an hr or so north of Victoria on route 1.

I am motion-sickness challenged, so we called the Chemaninus' Visitor Center before we left. They told us that there were some twisty roads and some hills. For the average person, this is probably not an issue, but for me it is, I took some meds. So, if you are out there reading this and are prone to ms, then the above is for you. I am always apprehensive before a trip like this, worry takes over, however the whole drive up and back, I kept exclaiming, this is fabulous. We drove mostly a one or two lane highway (route 1) bordered by tall and sometimes spindly alpine trees. It was so pretty, occasionally we saw blue water; it reminded me of Tahoe in parts.

If you want the town to yourself, then Monday is the day for you. There were a few people around, but it felt like a ghost town. There may be a totally different feeling on the weekend. Practically every restaurant was closed; the one we found open around 2:30 or so told us they were overwhelmed in the kitchen and that there was a 30-45 minute wait for food, even though the restaurant was half-filled. We ended up doing something, I hate to do, ate at the Subway, a place I connect with work when I am on the road at lunchtime and swear I will never eat at willingly any other time of the year.
Chemainus is famed for its murals, 41 in all, the tourist office told us. They add one each year. They are quite large, generally taking up the side of a bldg, and tell some historical feature of the town. Apparently, the town was down on its luck and came up with a way to rejuvenate it. You can see the city is still struggling with this issue, but the murals appear to bring people in. There are yellow footprints that you can follow to see the murals or you can take a tour. We opted to walk, needed to stretch our legs after riding in the car, but the sun was very warm, unless you found a shaded area, but those were not often available.

After lunch, we wandered for about an hour or so, viewing the murals and then ended up at the Twisted Sisters' Tearoom for iced tea and a bagel. We had the nicest time speaking with the sisters and a patron and the iced African tea just hit the spot on this very hot summer's day. Of course, the ride home felt half as long as the ride up. N asked me if I would recommend Chemainus, that is a tough question to answer. I think if you are in Victoria for a long period of time, like us, over 2 months, then it might be worth your while, but if you are here for a week or less, I would not put it on my list, unless you are extremely fascinated by murals. Of course, the town may have a whole other feel to it on another day of the week.

Just so you know, the dining room and the Blue Poppy restaurant at Butchart's are different things.

I went to the dining room years ago and got terrible service. Had tea there this past winter and thought it was just ok. I prefer the Blue Poppy.

Hi April, I looked at your link. The meal offered at Butchart's is in the Blue Poppy. I guess, I confused the issue when I said "dining room," not realizing there was another restaurant that could be referred to as the "dining room." So, does it now sound like a good offer to you?

Yes, the Island is beautiful. I'm sure you going to love Sooke, French Beach, China Beach, etc etc....